Besides TOTW II, any good reads out there?

cxa0897

New member
I have read through twist of the wrist 2 and watched the video (and plan to do so again now that I've got a some more mileage under my belt), but am always looking to advance my skill set with other resources.

I am looking for books/vids on general bike handling, getting the full potential out of the bike, and most importantly, improving my own abilities and awareness on the street. I am not a track rider (yet), but do feel that those skills can carry over to street driving, and like to read up on it.
 

ssky0078

New member
Save up your money and take the Advanced Rider Course from your local MSF. Make sure it is not the BRC2 or ERC (experienced rider course) or CRC (confident Rider Course) but the actual Advanced Rider Course ARC.

It will cover topics like
1. Basic Control
2. Quick Stops
3. Stopping Demonstration (I think this is where they threw in trail braking)
4. Curve Adjustments
5. Cornering and Swerving (I think this included obstacle avoidance)
6. Multiple Curves
7. Decreasing Radius Curves
8. Gap Analysis and Safety Margin

I was like you reading and watching videos. However, this class jumped my riding skill up pretty significantly. Confidence as well, which is a big part of riding, got better.

Read this in the mean time

The Pace - Nick Ienatsch - Motorcyclist magazine
 

cxa0897

New member
Thanks sky.

I was planning on taking an ARC or ERC this fall, but scheduling just isn't working out for that to happen.

I will be looking into taking the ARC in the spring, hopefully when my schedule works out a little better. I should have 10k or more miles by the time that rolls around.
 

MotoZen

New member
It doesn't have to do with riding skills, but I'm reading [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Motion-Experience-Motorcycling-ebook/dp/B004Z8S8GQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379289876&sr=1-1&keywords=bodies+in+motion"]Bodies In Motion: Evolution and Experience in Motorcycling[/ame]. It talks about different aspects of why we ride and analyses the types of riders and stuff like that. It's a little slow but fairly interesting.
 

Bajaedition

New member
problem with twist of the wrist and so many of those books is they are writen for TRACK, not real road.
As many of the techniques may apply they also deal with groomed surfaces where you are going see so many of those curves time after time after time again.
Plus.....they deal with high speed maneuvers mainly. Little is dealt with about real world situations where the road is not groomed, there is traffic coming the other way, dogs are running at you, the road is wet, you need to make split second decisions, and the list goes on.
not only that but slow speed skills are not really covered, such as breaking. try breaking at a stop light and balancing the bike without putting a foot down, notice if you use front brake or rear brake it is a totally different animal.

MSF new rider course, and advanced rider course deal with a lot of issues such as that. real world skills. just going to a parking lot and setting up a obstacle course to go through slowly will let you know there is a lot to riding at different speeds, slow, transition and fast all require different skills and basically experience is what it takes to deal with them.

Besides that Lee Parks Total control is a good book
as is David Hough's proficient motorcycling
 

tzortn

Pillion
I would check out "Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track" by Nick Ienatsch. He spends a lot more time addressing riding skills on the street Keith Code does in his video.
 
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